Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of printing an image on a sheet conveyed from a sheet stacking unit.
Description of the Related Art
It has been previously known that, in printing apparatuses with sheet stacking units, images are printed on sheets conveyed from the sheet stacking units. Sheets of a plurality of sizes (e.g., A5 size and B5 size) can be stacked in the sheet stacking units. Further, some printing apparatuses can convey a sheet with the short side thereof as the leading edge (i.e., in a portrait orientation), and can convey a sheet with the long side thereof as the leading edge (i.e., in a landscape orientation).
A user who places a sheet in a sheet stacking unit needs to set a size such as A5 and B5 that corresponds to the sheet stacking unit. Further, the user also needs to set whether the sheet is placed so that the sheet is conveyed with the short side thereof as the leading edge, or the sheet is placed so that the sheet is conveyed with the long side thereof as the leading edge.
Based on information of settings thus made by the user, and information of settings made with respect to a printing target image (which sheet size and which orientation are to be adopted for printing), whether to execute printing or not execute printing but display an error message is determined. This can prevent occurrence of such a printing error that an image is printed on an incorrectly placed sheet (a sheet unsuitable for the size or orientation of a printing target image).
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-146057 discusses a technique of setting a size of a sheet as “FREE SIZE”. For a user who uses sheets while frequently switches sheets of different sizes, it is annoying to set a size and an orientation of a sheet each time the user places a sheet. As a solution to this issue, it is known to provide an option of “FREE SIZE”. When “FREE SIZE” is set by the user, printing is executed regardless of information of settings made with respect to a printing target image (which sheet size and which orientation are to be adopted for printing).
It is also known to perform printing after a printing target image is rotated. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-108718 discusses a technique whereby, when a width of an image to be printed on a sheet conveyed with the short side thereof as the leading edge is longer than a length of the short side, a loss in an image is prevented by performing printing after rotating the image by 90 degrees.
Usually, in a case where a printing target image is printed without being rotated, the image is printed in such a manner that the leading-edge side of a sheet in a sheet conveyance direction corresponds to the top of the image. If the image is desired to be printed in a portrait orientation (an orientation in which the short side of the sheet corresponds to the top of the image) as illustrated in FIG. 4A of the subject application, the sheet needs to be conveyed with the short side thereof as the leading edge.
However, when a sheet is conveyed with the short side thereof as the leading edge, the length of the sheet in the conveyance direction is longer as compared with a case where the sheet is conveyed with the long side thereof as the leading edge. Thus, time required for printing one sheet is long and printing efficiency is low.
In this regard, there is a printing apparatus configured to perform printing after rotating a printing target image by 90 degrees, on the premise that that a sheet is conveyed with the long side thereof as the leading edge when “FREE SIZE” is set as a size of the sheet. In this case, the sheet is conveyed as illustrated in FIG. 4B of the subject application. Thus, the length of the sheet in the conveyance direction is short, which can reduce the time required for printing one sheet.
Meanwhile, rotating an image by 90 degrees may cause a printing error. In the above-described printing apparatus, the user who sets “FREE SIZE” needs to place a sheet in an orientation so that the sheet is conveyed with the long side thereof as the leading edge. However, a user unfamiliar with this operation may place a sheet in an orientation with which the sheet is conveyed with the short side thereof as the leading edge, even though the user sets “FREE SIZE”. In this case, a resultant print may have a partially lost image, as illustrated in FIG. 4C of the subject application.
Cases where such an issue tends to occur will be described in more detail, using specific examples. A first example is a case where a sheet of a small size such as A5 can be conveyed with either of the long side thereof and the short side thereof as the leading edge, whereas a sheet of a large size such as B5 can be conveyed only with the short side thereof as the leading edge. This is a case where a printable width in a main-scanning direction in a printing apparatus is longer than the length of the long side of an A5 sheet and the length of the short side of a B5 sheet, and shorter than the length of the long side of a B5 sheet.
In this case, the sheet of B5 size can be conveyed only in an orientation in which the short side thereof is the leading edge. Accordingly, even if “FREE SIZE” is set, an image is printed in such a manner that the leading-edge side of the sheet in the conveyance direction corresponds to the top of the image, on the premise that a sheet is conveyed in an orientation in which the short side thereof is the leading edge when a printing target image is of B5 size. Thus, when the printing target image is of B5 size, a sheet needs to be placed in the portrait orientation, even if “FREE SIZE” is set. For this reason, when a user who is used to placing a sheet of B5 size in the portrait orientation places a sheet, the user may likewise place a sheet of A5 size in the portrait orientation, which results in a resultant print having a partially lost image.
A second example is a case where two printing apparatuses, i.e., a printing apparatus that can convey a sheet of a small size such as A5 with either of the long side thereof and the short side thereof as the leading edge, and a printing apparatus that can convey a sheet of a small size such as A5 only with the short side thereof as the leading edge, are used together. As for the latter printing apparatus, a printable width in a main-scanning direction in the printing apparatus is longer than the length of the short side of an A5 sheet and shorter than the length of the long side of an A5 sheet.
In this case, in the latter printing apparatus, in the first place, the sheet of A5 size can be conveyed only with the short side thereof as the leading edge. Thus, even if “FREE SIZE” is set, a sheet needs to be placed in the portrait orientation. A user who usually uses this printing apparatus may place a sheet of A5 size in the portrait orientation when the user uses the former printing apparatus.